Show-Me Cannabis will be hosting a Town Hall meeting on cannabis law reform at the Moberly Area Community College next Tuesday, Oct. 15, at 6:30 p.m.

This meeting almost did not happen, said John Payne, Executive Director of Show-Me Cannabis Regulation, who noted that MACC originally tried to decline the meeting taking place on campus, concerned for the possible image issues such could cause.

Payne will lead the town hall meeting. He is joined by Dan Viets, Board Chairman for Show-Me Cannabis Regulation and defense attorney; former Representative Chris Kelly, who co-sponsored decriminalization bills last session and says he plans to sponsor a legalization bill in 2014; and Sergeant Gary Wiegert, Saint Louis Police Department and Tea Party member.

The Show-Me Cannabis group believes that Missouri would benefit from the decriminalization of the drug. They claim that Missouri would save $90 million a year, and if the whole nation allowed cannabis, that it would generate $60 million in tax revenue. Currently, the tentative plan for the bill would only allow for personal use marijuana,

Moberly Police Chief Russell Tarr and Randolph County Sheriff Mark Nichols both stated that they are adamantly against the legalization of cannabis in Randolph County and the state when contacted by the MMI earlier this week.

Tarr said that passage of the bill to decriminalize personal use marijuana is an "absolutely horrible idea."

"There is no use for marijuana in the community or state," Tarr said.

Nichols and Tarr both referenced marijuana as a "gateway drug."

The gateway drug hypothesis states that the use of less dangerous drugs may lead to the future use of hard drugs. Studies, however, are undecided if this logic holds true for the population. Some studies have been able to replicate the hypothesis, which is evident in drug-abusers who typically do progress from one drug to another. Alcohol and tobacco are considered by many to also be a gateway drug.

Tarr also explained he has yet to talk to doctors who support the use of medical marijuana.

Nineteen sixty-one marked changes in drug usage laws on an international level. The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs is an international treaty that was signed in 1961. The Treaty prohibits the production and supply of a series of drugs. However, the language of the Treaty is ambiguous at best. The language leaves it unclear if the Treaty truly meant for the criminalization of personal use marijuana.

Due to the Treaty, marijuana is illegal under federal law. The Department of Justice has given the green light to several states to follow state laws on personal use marijuana. They have addressed several priorities, which include:

• keeping marijuana from minors,

• keeping marijuana off of federal property,

• keeping marijuana from impacting public safety, and

Page 2 of 2 - • keeping money out of the hands of drug cartels.

However, the Department of Justice will still maintain the authority and the ability to press forward with criminal prosecutions regardless of state law.